Isand66's blog

This is my second bake of this bread in the last few days.  I had made a batch of dough to go with my wife's football party eggplant parmesan and chicken parmesan with homemade sauce, meatballs and sausage.  She also had made some fresh croissants with chocolate inside and all I was going to do was make some bread.

Well of course I didn't hear my wife tell me she wanted to make garlic bread out of my bread so I ended up making several baguettes instead of the original boules I was going to make.  It was not easy to form the baguettes in my small kitchen since my wife had croissants baking and eggplant frying etc. so I was not too pleased with the shape but in the end they came out pretty good.

I needed some bread to eat in the house and my freezer was devoid of any so I decided to remake the same recipe and make it into the shape I desired this time.

I must say, this simple recipe makes the most elastic and silky dough I have ever made.   It baked up perfectly with a nice crispy crust and golden-yellow crumb along with lots of nice holes to drip olive oil all over my chin and shirt.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and 350 grams of the water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), honey and olive oil and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the water unless the dough is way too wet.   Mix on low-speed for another 4 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 2 loaves using my bannetons.  Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

I just returned from my latest trip to China for work and was itching to have some decent bread to eat.  China is not known for their bread so I was starting to suffer bread withdrawal.

My starter is in serious need of some tender loving care after sleeping in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks so I had no choice but to make a yeasted dough.

I used a good portion of First Clear flour along with durum, white whole wheat (to get a little healthy grains in there), bread flour and some potato flour.

I used some dried scallions, fresh grated parmesan cheese, olive oil and milk for the liquid.

The final rolls came out nice and tasty with a nice soft crumb.  These are perfect for sandwiches or burgers or just with a smear of cream cheese.

Directions

Mix flours with yeast to combine.  Next add remainder of the ingredients and mix on low for 1 minute and then for 5 minutes at speed number 2.  Note:  make sure to leave about 50 grams of milk aside and add only if necessary.  The dough should form a ball and clean the side of the mixing bowl.

Take the dough out of your mixer and form it into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl or dough rising bucket.  Immediately place the dough in the refrigerator overnight for up to 2 days.

When ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 1 hour.

Next gently deflate the dough and form into rolls and place on cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.  Let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour until the rolls have almost doubled in size and pass the poke test.

Around 30 minutes before ready to bake the rolls, pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and prepare your oven for steam as well.  I use a heavy-duty pan in the bottom shelf of my oven and pour 1 cup of boiling water in right before placing the rolls in the oven.

Right before you are ready to bake the rolls prepare an egg wash, paint your rolls and add  your topping of choice.  I used poppy seeds and some more grated parmesan cheese.

Bake the rolls at 450 degrees for the first 5 minutes and lower the oven to 425 degrees until they are nice and brown.

These should take about 25 minutes to cook thoroughly.  When done  let them cool on wire rack for at least half an hour before digging in if you can wait that long.

Ever since I read about this bread baked by Varda (recipe here) I have wanted to try to bake one.  I managed to pick up what I thought was Chocolate Malted Rye which is one of the key ingredients at a local brewers supply store.  Unfortunately I later learned that what I bought was chocolate malted barley.  Never the less I still figured it was worth giving it a go anyway.

You are also supposed to use a Pullman pan with a lid for this bake but since I don't currently own one I used a standard baking tin and covered the bread for most of the bake with aluminum foil.  I think it worked out okay, but next time I will buy a Pullman pan and see if it makes much of  difference.

Following Varda's advise I tried to dock the dough and separated the sides with a spatula to avoid cracking on the top.  I still ended up with some cracking so I guess I need to try something else next time.

Nice and Bubbly

Overall I think the bread came out pretty good for my first attempt.  It has a nice moist crumb with a pretty hard crust.  I have never eaten this type of bread before so I'm not sure what it is supposed to taste like, but mine is very sour which I imagine may mellow after it sit for another 12 hours or so.  I ate a piece after about 18 hours which is the longest I could wait.

The chocolate malted barley smelled so good when mixed with the sour; almost good enough to eat like cake batter.

I am going to try and get some authentic malted rye for the next attempt.  I used only the malted chocolate barley for this bake even though Varda's formula called for some plain malted rye which I did not have.  Not sure what kind of difference that made in the final taste profile.

I will have to give a 100% rye version of this style bread in the near future after I return from my trip to China next month.

Happy baking everyone.

I have made sourdough rolls using the Tangzhong method before and they usually come out great.  I decide to change it up a bit and used buttermilk instead of cream or milk and added some sour cream for an added flavor boost.  I also added some fresh parmesan cheese and used rolled oats, white rye and spelt flour to try to make it a little healthy.

I have to say when these were baking the whole house smelled amazing.

The final rolls came out nice and fluffy and soft but with a ton of flavor.  One bad thing about working from home is the temptation to eat and I have to say I sampled way too many of these rolls when they were done.

Formula

Note: Tangzhong consisted of 50 grams Bread Flour and 250 grams heavy cream.  I included this in the overall formula below.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Prepare the Tangzhong.   Use a  5 to 1 liquid to solid ratio (so 250g liquid to 50g flour) and mix it together in a pan.  Heat the pan while stirring constantly.  Initially it will remain a liquid, but as you approach 65C it will undergo a change and thicken to an almost pudding like consistency.  Take it off the heat and let it cool before using it in your recipe.  Some people will refrigerate it for a while but you can use it right away as soon as it cools..

Mix the flours, Tangzhong, rolled oats and buttermilk together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), sour cream, eggs, cheese and butter  and mix on low for a minute.   Mix for a total of 6 minutes in your mixer starting on low-speed and working your way up to speed #2 for the last 4 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and cut into equal size pieces and shape into rolls.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with moist tea towels or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, using a simple egg wash or heavy cream or milk, brush each roll and sprinkle on your topping of choice (I used dried scallions).  Next add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 425 degrees.  Bake for 35 minutes until the crust is nice and brown.

Take the rolls out of the oven when done and let them cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

Where oh where is Max hiding??

 I wanted to make a fairly uncomplicated bread with a good portion of spelt flour and while I was at it I decided to add some walnuts since I love nuts and my new apprentice Max is quite the nut as well.

My wife picked up some chocolate infused olive oil on close-out at William Sonoma so I figured that along with some chocolate vinegar would be a good compliment to the mix of nutty flours along with the walnuts.  I'm not sure you really end up tasting too much chocolate flavor but it did add some nice chocolate undertones to the final bread.

New Apprentice Max Loving the Sand

I let the flours autolyse with the water overnight for around 12 hours before mixing in the other ingredients and let it bulk ferment for another 12 plus hours before baking it off.

The final bread was a nice nutty, chewy bread perfect for some hard cheese or olive oil.  The crumb was nice and moist and open and the spelt flour really added a wonderful taste to this one.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together  for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I used my proofer set at 83 degrees and it took about 4 hours.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours with the water for about 1 minute.  Place it in a covered bowl and let it sit at room temperature or in your refrigerator overnight for around 12 hours.

The next day cut the starter in pieces and add it along with the oil and vinegar to the dough and mix on low-speed or by hand for 4 minutes.  Next add the chopped walnuts and mix until incorporated for about 1 minute.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.  (Since I used my proofer I only let the dough sit out for 1.5 hours before refrigerating).

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired and cover with a moist towel or oiled plastic wrap.  The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it's size at most.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

   This bread was inspired by my friend and fellow TFL member, Khalid.  His beautiful bread was a 100% whole wheat version using yeast while for my version I chose to convert the recipe to sourdough and used three different whole grain flours instead of one.

I decided to use my trusty Krups coffee grinder to make fresh ground flour for the entire recipe and I was quite happy with the results.

I used a 2 step build for the starter mixing Einkorn Ancient Whole Wheat with a Hard White Whole Wheat.

For the main dough I used one of my favorite flours Kamut which is similar to Durum but more wholesome with a stronger wheat flavor.  I also used more of the Hard White Whole Wheat.

The dates are simmered in part of the water used for the main dough and I then chopped them up in the food processor before adding them to the dough.  In hindsight I should have hand chopped them instead since I ended up with more of a paste and you don't really see too many of the dates in the final bread.

All in all this is a nice tasty bread that would only be better if I left bigger pieces of the sweet dates.

I just had a couple of pieces for breakfast with some fresh mozzarella and it was quite tasty.

Shade Garden in Full Bloom

Levain Directions

Step 1

Mix all the levain ingredients together  for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I used my proofer set at 83 degrees and it took about 4 hours.

Step 2

Mix the flour and water with all of the levain from step 1 and let it sit at room temperature again until it is doubled.  At this point you can either use it right away or put it in the refrigerator and use it the next 1 to 2 days.

Date Preparation

Make sure there are no pits in the dates and do not trust the package like I did which claimed they were pitted dates.  Simmer the dates in 226 grams of water until they are soft.  After you remove them from the heat, add 100 grams of cold water and let the dates sit until they come back down to room temperature.

Next, I suggest you hand chop them into pieces but don't make them too small like I did or you won't really taste them in the final bread.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours with the remainder of the water for about 1 minute.  Let the rough dough sit for about 20 minutes to an hour.  Next add the dates, butter and salt and mix on low for 2 minutes and speed #2 for another 2 minutes or by hand for about 6 minutes.   You should end up with a cohesive dough that is slightly tacky but very manageable.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.  (Since I used my proofer I only let the dough sit out for 1.5 hours before refrigerating).

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 1 large Miche for this bake.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it's size at most.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

Ligularia, one of my favorite shade plants

  It's been a few weeks since my last post.  I've been very busy, traveling to Costa Rica on vacation which was amazing and upon my return we added another family member to our pack.  I am happy to introduce Max who is our new 9 month mixed breed puppy.

We had a great time in Costa Rica trekking through the rain forest and hanging out in the pool and in the ocean.  It's a beautiful country and worth visiting if you get the chance. 

Rain Forest in Costa Rica

To welcome Max into our lives I decided to name my latest experiment in his honor.  I have been wanting to try making a sourdough where all the flour comes from the levain so I decided to build 3 different starters and incorporate all of the flour and most of the water for the dough as part of the preferment's.I used mostly whole grain type flours and tried using a combination I though would create a nice nutty flavor.  I also couldn't help but add some barbecued onions in the mix since I love the flavor of onions in bread.

I let the dough over-proof slightly before placing the loaves in the oven which lead to a more flat loaf than I wanted, but the taste was fantastic with a nice moist open crumb full of flavor and more than enough sour to go around.

Directions

 Starters

Mix ingredients in a bowl for each starter until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 8 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed.  (I used my proofing box set at 83 degrees and the starter were ready to use after about 5 hours.)

 Main Dough

Mix the starter together in your bowl along with the salt, oil and water for 2 minutes.  Next mix the onions in and mix for another 4-5 minutes.  Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover.  Let it sit at room temperature or in my case at 80 degrees in my proofer for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Do a total of 3 stretch and folds or more if you like until the dough starts to come together and develop sufficient gluten strength.

Next place it in your bowl covered in your refrigerator over night for at least 12 hours.  Since this dough has so much levain you don't want to keep it in the refrigerator too long so I suggest no more than 12 hours.

The next day, take the bowl out of your refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for around 1.5 to 2 hours.  Form the dough into loaves or your preferred shape and let it rise for about 1.5 hours or more depending on your ambient temperature.

When the dough is ready to bake, score as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 45 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees.   When the loaves are nice and brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. you can remove it from the oven.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 3 hours or so before eating as desired.

Max's Fortress of Solitude

Amazing Pool at Westin Resort

Swim-up Bar at Resort....Life is Good!

Costa Rican Lake Leading up to Volcano

It's Nice Being Green

This was supposed to be a 36 hour sourdough but I got stuck in my favorite airport O'Hare for about 4 hours longer than expected and didn't get home until 1:30 AM.  Due to the extra hours in the refrigerator and the blueberry beer I used this one ended up real sour.

I wanted to make a mostly whole grain bread and this one came in at around 72%.  I used freshly ground flour for the levain and for the main dough I added some First Clear for some gluten strength and Durum because it's one of my favorite flours.

I added some maple flavored balsamic vinegar to add some sweetness without using sugar.

I wanted to up the hydration on this one and it came in at almost 80% but due to the long retardation and high percentage of whole wheat flours the dough handled easily.

The final result was a nice open and moist crumb with a complex beer favored whole grain flavor and ideal crust.  This will make a great sandwich bread.

Directions

 Starter Build 1

Mix ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 8 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed.  You can store it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days until ready to use.

Procedure

Mix the flours and the beer and 66 grams of the water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Put the dough in a slightly covered oiled bowl and put in the refrigerator for 12 hours.  I ended up leaving it in the refrigerator for over 24 hours.

The next day add your starter and salt to the dough and mix by hand until it is thoroughly mixed and evenly distributed.  Next add the vinegar and the balance 54 grams of water.  Due to the high water content in the 100% hydration starter this dough is very easy to mix by hand and is very silky and smooth.

Bulk rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours until it grows around 1/3 in volume doing stretch and folds every half hour until it has developed the correct amount of strength.

Put the dough back into the refrigerator for around 20-30 hours.  I ended up letting it go around 24 hours.

The next day take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it rise at room temperature for around 2 hours or until the dough has almost doubled from the night before.

Next, shape as desired and place in your baskets if using them.  Make sure you use enough rice flour with flour in your bowl/basket to prevent this moist dough from sticking.

Cover the dough with a moist towel and let sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.

Score as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 45 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees.    When the loaf is nice and brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. you can remove it from the oven.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 3 hours or so before eating as desired.

My wife made some Sangria for the 4th of July and had a ton of fresh blueberries and raspberries left over so I decided to use some of them up.  My fellow baking friend Evon inspired this bake with her use of blue berries, cherries and cranberries in her recent sourdough breads.

I wanted to use my Cherry Yeast Water instead of a my sourdough starter.  I also wanted to incorporate some whole grains in this bake so I used some Spelt and Dark Rye (Pumpernickel) flours in the main dough.  I used some lower protein 00 style Italian flour and French style flour from KAF in the starter and the main dough.

In hindsight it may have been better to skip the 00 style flour in this one and have a little more dough strength.  The final dough was wet as expected but I did not get much oven rise and this one was more difficult to handle than Ciabatta I have made in the past.

In the end though, the bread came out just fine although a little flatter than I would have liked but it tastes terrific with a little nuttiness from the spelt and rye and the blueberries and raspberries add a whole other dimension.

This one is worth giving a try if you are up to the challenge.

Levain Directions Build 1

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  (Note: I used my proofer set at 83 degrees).

Levain Directions Build 2

Add all the ingredients listed to the levain from Build 1 and mix well.  Let it sit in your proofer or a warm place about 83 degrees for 4-5 hours until the starter is nice and bubbly and has doubled in size.

Directions

Mix the flours together with the water for about 1 minute.  Let it sit in your mixing bowl covered for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Next, add the Yeast Water and salt and mix on medium low for 3 minutes. You can now add the blueberries and raspberries and mix for another minute until they are incorporated.   Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl using a dough scraper or spatula. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface or you can do the S & F's in the bowl itself.  . Make sure you oil your hands and do a stretch and fold on all sides of the dough and flip it over and form it into a ball. Put the dough back in the bowl and let it rest for another 10 minutes at room temperature. Do this stretch and fold process three more times over the next 30 to 40 minutes.

After you do the last stretch and fold put it back in the bowl and cover it. Then let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours and cover it tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.   Place a large piece of parchment paper either on your work area or the back of a baking pan and dust with flour to cover it completely. Using an oiled or wet dough scraper gently remove the dough to the work surface. You want to be very careful so you don't degas the dough and kill the big air holes you want to achieve.

Flour your hands and lightly dust the top of the dough. Use your hands and a metal dough scraper and form the dough into a 9" square and be very careful again not to manhandle the dough and degas it.

Next, cut the dough into either 3 small Ciabatta or 2 larger size loaves. I opted to go with the 2 larger size but probably would have been better making 3 smaller ones.

Gently fold the individual dough pieces into thirds like an envelope. Make sure to be very careful and not to apply any pressure. Roll the folded dough in the flour to coat it and lift it onto the parchment paper and roll it in the flour again. Rest the dough seam side down and repeat with the other piece(s) of dough.

Spray the tops of the dough with oil (I use a baking spray) and cover the pan with plastic wrap very loosely. You can also use a clean lint free kitchen towel.

After 1 hour of resting, roll the dough pieces very gently so the seam side is now facing up and lift them with your floured hands to coax them into either a 7" rectangle if making the larger size or 5" rectangle.  Try to get them to be as close to a rectangle shape as you can when you put them back down on the parchment paper.

Let them rest covered loosely again for 1 hour.

About 45 minutes before baking, pre-heat oven with baking stone (I use one on bottom and one on top shelf of my oven), to 550 degrees F.

Place an empty pan in bottom shelf of your oven or a cast iron skillet.

Pour 1 cup of boiling water into pan and place loaves into oven. I also spray the side walls of the oven with water 2 to 3 times for added steam.

Lower oven to 450 Degrees and bake for 12 minutes and rotate the bread and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until bread has a nice golden brown crust and the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. The bread should have puffed up a little and should be hard when you tap it.

Let it cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes (good luck waiting that long!) and enjoy!

The bread should have nice large irregular holes and should be soft after cooling.

Here are some photos of the pretzel rolls and hot dog buns I made for the 4th of July party we went to along with a cherry pie my wife made.  I also made 7 racks of ribs and a big brisket but didn't have a chance to take any photos.

Hungry Bee!

We bought some chicken Buffalo style sliders the other day so I wanted to make some tasty buns to go with them.  The buns needed to be hearty enough to hold the burgers and the fixings as well as soft enough like a hamburger bun needs to be.

I adapted a recipe from KAF and made several changes including the flour types and changes and additions in several ingredients.  I added some dried onions and some Parmesan powder to give it a little extra flavor and just enough honey to round out the flavor profile.

These would have been perfect had I not left them in the oven a few minutes too long since I was working at the same time I was baking these.  One of the benefits of working from home but also one of the possible pitfalls.  In any case these tasted great and made perfect burger buns and sandwich rolls as well.  If you try these you will not be disappointed, of that I can guarantee you.

The European style flour I used has a small percentage of white whole wheat flour and malt which along with the Spelt flour and Durum flour really gave these rolls some excellent flavor.

Directions

Bring the milk up to a boil in a heavy-duty sauce pan and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.  Take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature before using.

In the mean time leave your butter out at room temperature or soften in your microwave.

Mix flours with yeast to combine.  Next add remainder of the ingredients and mix on low for 1 minute and then for 9 minutes at speed number 2 and 1 minute at speed number 3.  You want to mix/knead until you develop a nice thin window pane which will ensure that the rolls end up nice and soft.

Take the dough out of your mixer and form it into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl or dough rising bucket.  Make sure to cover the dough and let it rise at room temperature of if you have a proofer set it to 82 degrees and let it rise until doubled.  It took me about 1 hour to double in my proofer.

Next gently deflate the dough and form into rolls and place on cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.  Let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour until the rolls have almost doubled in size and pass the poke test.

Around 30 minutes before ready to bake the rolls, pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and prepare your oven for steam as well.  I use a heavy-duty pan in the bottom shelf of my oven and pour 1 cup of boiling water in right before placing the rolls in the oven.

Right before you are ready to bake the rolls prepare an egg wash, paint your rolls and add  your topping of choice.

Bake the rolls at 450 degrees for the first 5 minutes and lower the oven to 425 degrees until they are nice and brown.  Just make sure that they don't turn into charcoal like mine almost did :).

These should take about 25 minutes to cook thoroughly.  When done  let them cool on wire rack for at least half an hour before digging in if you can wait that long.

Cleopatra didn't mind the "dark" rolls at all....